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Conceptualising the Agency of Migrant Women Workers: Resilience, Reworking and Resistance

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  • Agnieszka Rydzik

    (University of Lincoln, UK)

  • Sundari Anitha

    (University of Lincoln, UK)

Abstract

This article examines migrant women tourism workers’ understandings of, and diverse responses to, exploitative working conditions by taking account of the constraints posed by oppressive contexts and ideologies. It analyses how their location at the intersection of multiple axes of disadvantage and discrimination on account of gender, ethno-nationality, immigration status and migration history as well as their low-status employment and educational level, shapes both their understandings of particular experiences of exploitation and possible responses to these, and examines the effects of their practices upon the power structures at work. Based on the experiences of eleven women from Central and Eastern European countries working in the UK tourism industry, this article theorises workers’ responses to hyperexploitative employment relations by utilising a differentiated conceptualisation of agency as practices of resilience, reworking and resistance. In doing so, it rejects binary categories of victimhood and agency, as well as romanticised accounts of unmitigated resistance.

Suggested Citation

  • Agnieszka Rydzik & Sundari Anitha, 2020. "Conceptualising the Agency of Migrant Women Workers: Resilience, Reworking and Resistance," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 34(5), pages 883-899, October.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:woemps:v:34:y:2020:i:5:p:883-899
    DOI: 10.1177/0950017019881939
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Kavita Datta & Cathy McIlwaine & Yara Evans & Joanna Herbert & Jon May & Jane Wills, 2007. "From Coping Strategies to Tactics: London's Low‐Pay Economy and Migrant Labour," British Journal of Industrial Relations, London School of Economics, vol. 45(2), pages 404-432, June.
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    6. repec:ilo:ilowps:365541 is not listed on IDEAS
    7. Linda Mcdowell & Adina Batnitzky & Sarah Dyer, 2009. "Precarious Work and Economic Migration: Emerging Immigrant Divisions of Labour in Greater London's Service Sector," International Journal of Urban and Regional Research, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 33(1), pages 3-25, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

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    Cited by:

    1. Lucie Trlifajová & Lenka Formánková, 2023. "‘Finally, We Are Well, Stable’: Perception of Agency in the Biographies of Precarious Migrant Workers," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 37(6), pages 1583-1604, December.
    2. Haller Alina-Petronela & Hârşan Georgia-Daniela Tacu, 2021. "Causes of Sustainable Tourism Resilience in Central and Eastern Europe. The Case of Three Countries: Romania, Bulgaria and Poland," Proceedings of the International Conference on Business Excellence, Sciendo, vol. 15(1), pages 1251-1268, December.
    3. Rydzik, Agnieszka & Kissoon, Chavan Sharma, 2022. "The shaping of the neoliberal worker: Socialisation of young adults through flexible hospitality work," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 97(C).
    4. Tina G Patel & Daiga KamerÄ de & Luke Carr, 2024. "Higher Rates of Bullying Reported by ‘White’ Males: Gender and Ethno-Racial Intersections and Bullying in the Workplace," Work, Employment & Society, British Sociological Association, vol. 38(2), pages 442-460, April.
    5. Lugosi, Peter & Ndiuini, Ann, 2022. "Migrant mobility and value creation in hospitality labour," Annals of Tourism Research, Elsevier, vol. 95(C).
    6. Charles Gyan & Batholomew Chireh & Noelle Chuks-Eboka & Ata Senior Yeboah, 2023. "Reconsidering the Conceptualization of Resilience: The Experiences of Refugee and Immigrant Youth in Montreal," Applied Research in Quality of Life, Springer;International Society for Quality-of-Life Studies, vol. 18(4), pages 1591-1615, August.

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